Interview with Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra Composer Gao Yuan

At the headquarters of Shen Yun Performing Arts in New York, around the clock the sounds of rehearsal are issuing from every studio. Shen Yun's musicians are particularly busy. In
addition to preparing to accompany the 2019 dance production, they are perfecting their collaboration for the Symphony Orchestra fall season.

It wasn’t
easy, but we managed to track down one of our busiest—composer Gao Yuan—to give
us some unique insight into what to expect from this year’s concert.

Q: Could you explain how our Symphony Orchestra is different from our other annual production?

GY: In the
regular Shen Yun performance, dancing takes center stage and music is
accompaniment. For the concert tour, we combine Shen Yun’s touring orchestras
into a full symphony orchestra. Our music gets the spotlight and we go all out
to create the most magnificent musical experience we can.

The program’s original
selections are taken from our dance performances’ all-time favorite pieces. We
then rearrange them for our full symphony orchestra. The melodies you hear in
these compositions were inspired by ancient folk and ethnic tunes that have
been passed down through the ages.

The Chinese
instruments you’ll see in the center of the orchestra play the melody against
the backdrop of a full orchestra. So you’ll hear the grandeur of the Western symphony,
along with the unique, ethnic infusion of traditional Chinese instruments. The
trick is how to get them to play in seamless harmony.

This idea of
using Western orchestral arrangement to present China’s 5,000 years of culture
and music is new and hadn’t been done before. And we explore a range of China’s
distinct dynasties and ethnic groups. So what you will experience is a vivid
cross-cultural production.

Q: What are some of the highlights in the history of Chinese music?

GY: From
excavated instruments, we know that Chinese music dates back over 9,000 years. Over
time, four genres developed: folk, literati, religious, and court music.

During the Han
Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.), the court established an imperial bureau known
as yuefu, which took charge of musical
education as well as collecting ancient folk music and poems. Culture exchange
with western Asia back then also introduced new instruments to the Han. This
led to even more advances in Chinese music.

Then, during the
Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong (reign 712-756), who was a talented musician
himself, created and personally supervised the Pear Garden imperial music
academy. The institutions he created trained professional performers, and
contributed immensely to the development of Chinese music.

Q: There is an old belief, now being revisited, that music
has the power to heal. Where does this idea come from, and how does it apply to
traditional Chinese music?

GY: Our
ancestors believed that music had the power to harmonize a person’s soul in
ways that medicine could not. In ancient China, one of music’s earliest
purposes was for healing. The Chinese word, or character, for medicine actually
comes from the character for music.

During the
time of the Great Yellow Emperor (2698–2598 B.C.E.), people discovered the
relationship between the pentatonic scale, the five elements, and the human body's five
internal and five sensory organs. During Confucius's time, scholars used music’s
calming properties to improve and strengthen people’s character and conduct.

These historic instruments
have played vital roles in Chinese music for thousands of years. They’re very
representative of traditional Chinese culture, its customs and spirit.

Q: What are some of the challenges that composers and musicians
face in creating this performance?

GY: The compositions
were all originally dance accompaniment, so at the time of writing these
pieces, our job as composers was to collaborate very well with choreographers.
We tried our best to make their visions a reality. Our work was not completed
until the music satisfied every last detail of the dance, and this was
sometimes well into the rehearsal period. For this concert, we had to revise
the pieces to fit a symphony orchestra performance in which all images will be
painted through music alone.

Q: What do you hope our audience will take away from the
concert?

GY: I hope
they will be inspired. Inspired by beautiful melodies, inspired by the
performance’s energy, inspired by China’s ancient culture, and inspired by a
new development in classical music.

Interact with Shen Yun:

Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world's premier classical Chinese dance and music company, established in New York in 2006. It performs classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dance, and story-based dance, with orchestral accompaniment and solo performers.
For 5,000 years, divine culture flourished in the land of China. Through breathtaking music and dance, Shen Yun is reviving this glorious culture. Shen Yun, or 神韻, can be translated as: “The beauty of divine beings dancing.”